Maternal RNA complexes in oocytes

卵母细胞中的母体 RNA 复合物

• 批准号: 155356-2008
• 负责人: Ovsenek, Nicholas
• 金额: $ 3.5万
• 依托单位: University of Saskatchewan
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=422522
• 关键词: Maternal; RNA; complexes; oocytes

Our research examines an important transfer of genetic information that occurs between the mother's egg and the developing embryo. Before fertilization, the egg undergoes a process called oogenesis. The oocyte, which eventually becomes the egg, is a highly specialized single cell of the female germline that carries out certain processes, quite different that those of sperm, for the purposes of reproduction. The oocyte expresses a large amount of genes from the maternal genome of the mother that get passed onto the next generation embryo. The embryo receives genetic information from both male (sperm) and female (egg). However, in oocytes, there is a key difference in the normal information transfer process of cellular gene expression that usually involves trancription of DNA information in genes into messenger RNA molecules, and subsequent translation into proteins that carry out the bulk of cellular processes. In oocyes, many genes are expressed as RNA molecules but they are stored for very long periods and not released for translation until after fertilization in the embryo (thus, the mother's genes are expressed as proteins in the offspring). It has been known for over 20 years that maternal RNAs are stored in multi-protein storage particles called mRNPs, however very little is known about how mRNPs are assembled, the proteins and mRNAs of which they are composed, and the mechanisms by which certain RNAs are selectively translated into proteins in the embryo. We examine this, focussing on a protein called YY1, that we identified as a novel mRNP protein. We use frog oocytes and embryos as a model system to examine the basic biology of mRNPs with hope of advancing our knowledge of the fundamental processes of life. Specific aims: A variety of biochemical and molecular techniques will be employed to determine how YY1 interacts with RNAs in YY1-mRNP complexes, what RNAs and other proteins are in these complexes, what is the actual function of YY1 in mRNPs and what role it plays in the mechanism of development.

我们的研究检查了发生在母亲的卵子和发育中的胚胎之间的遗传信息的重要转移。在受精前，卵子经历一个叫做卵发生的过程。最终成为卵子的卵母细胞是女性生殖系中一种高度特化的单细胞，它在生殖过程中执行的某些过程与精子完全不同。卵母细胞表达大量来自母体基因组的基因，这些基因会传递给下一代胚胎。胚胎接受来自男性（精子）和女性（卵子）的遗传信息。然而，在卵母细胞中，细胞基因表达的正常信息传递过程存在关键差异，通常涉及基因中的DNA信息转录成信使RNA分子，随后翻译成执行大部分细胞过程的蛋白质。在卵眼中，许多基因以RNA分子的形式表达，但它们被储存很长一段时间，直到胚胎受精后才释放出来进行翻译（因此，母亲的基因在后代中以蛋白质的形式表达）。20多年来，人们已经知道母体rna储存在称为mRNPs的多蛋白储存颗粒中，但是对于mRNPs是如何组装的，它们组成的蛋白质和mrna，以及某些rna在胚胎中选择性地翻译成蛋白质的机制知之甚少。我们对此进行了研究，重点研究了一种名为YY1的蛋白质，我们将其鉴定为一种新的mRNP蛋白质。我们使用青蛙卵母细胞和胚胎作为模型系统来研究mRNPs的基本生物学，希望能提高我们对生命基本过程的认识。具体目的：将采用多种生化和分子技术来确定YY1如何与YY1- mrnp复合物中的rna相互作用，这些复合物中有哪些rna和其他蛋白质，YY1在mrnp中的实际功能是什么，在发育机制中起什么作用。